The invention relates to the display of draperies and the like for inspection by viewers. Under conventional practice, the display of draperies normally consumes a large amount of space in order to display the draperies in the manner in which they will ultimately be used (free hanging). According to the present invention, draperies are displayed in a manner that allows ready inspection thereof in a free-hanging position which takes up a minimum amount of space, and allows ready replacement and movement of the draperies. This is accomplished by providing a hanger specially adapted for hanging pleated drapery samples (narrower than a full set of window panels used at present for display) and, additionally, by providing particular rod means for hanging the samples at an angle with respect to the rod means for providing ready discernment of the edges thereof with a large number displayed in a given area.
While hangers specially adapted for hanging various particular sample articles are known (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,852, for example), there are no hangers for hanging pleated drape samples in the manner in which they are to be hung on a conventional drapery rod or the like. According to the present invention, a hanger is provided having a body portion with a hook means extending upwardly from the top edge thereof, and cutouts formed in the body portion extending from the top edge thereof toward the middle thereof for receiving drapery pleats within the drape header. One cutout is disposed on each side of the hook means. In order to prevent interference of the header portion adjacent the hook means with the hook means, slits may be formed on either side of the hook means to allow the header to be woven past the hook means so that the whole portion of the header is disposed on one side of the hook means. Additionally, card mounting means may be provided on the hanger for providing identifying information about the draperies being displayed.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a rod means for supporting hangers is provided which orients hangers supported thereby at an angle of substantially less than 90.degree. with respect to the direction of elongation of the rod means. This allows ready inspection of the edges of articles being displayed, and also provides for proper spacing thereof, both of which are especially importaht for proper display of drapery samples. The rod means has a number of upstanding portions formed thereon spaced a predetermined distance relative to the width of hanger hook portions for cooperation therewith. A plurality of helical upstanding portions wrapped around a central core may provide the particular rod means. While rod means having helical surfaces per se are known (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,509,657 and 2,846,079), such prior art rod means do not teach supporting articles displayed by hangers at an angle with respect to the direction of elongation of the rod means for providing more efficient display thereof.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide improved means and manners for the display of articles such as pleated drapery samples and the like. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the drawings and from the appended claims.